Patrick Gonzales is an artist based in Dijon, France. He has been on an artistic journey for most of his life, starting with music and eventually finding his way to the visual arts. He has spent over 20 years studying drawing, art history, and painting, developing his own unique style along the way. Patrick believes that the visual arts are a powerful medium for self-expression, allowing him to better convey his intuition and emotions than words or writing ever could.

Please briefly tell us about you. 

I am an artist living and working in Dijon, France. I became interested in art at adolescence; drawing, studying art history and then painting for about 20 years. In 1998 I studied graphic design and discovered digital.

What where the main factors behind your decision of following a creative career? What do you find most gratifying about it?

The visual arts have always been for me a way to express myself better than speech or writing, a medium to realize my intuitions. I started with music and finally chose the visual arts. It was in me, certainly while looking at art or reading artist biographies, which spoke to me and allowed me to find the way to go. The most rewarding things are the great freedom, to escape the conventions and the recognition of my collectors.

How would you describe your style?

I have different periods in my work. For my latest series I would be rather classic and surrealist. My work lies between painting and photography, two mediums that have often been opposed or challenged each other through history. I feel close to the pictorial photographers of the beginning of photography, a sequel of them.

Tell us about the process of developing your personal style and its evolution. Please also tell us a about the process behind your art works. 

My latest series is a vague memory of my childhood, a return to the sources when I lived in the countryside, close to nature. I also admire the forests of Douanier Rousseau and his naivety, which transmit a feeling of abandonment of today’s society in opposition to nature. The interdependence between man and nature is the driving force of my work.

Your work blends fantasy and a dreamy look. It also makes us feel a sense of the past. Is there a story behind your works? Do they try to document something?

It's a kind of lost world, the story remains to be created by the viewers with their experience. I do not give something definite, there must always be some mystery, it must remain intriguing in time. That's my reaction, my relationship to the world today.

You combine photography and digital painting. What kind of world are you trying to depict through your art?

Characters in the real or the imaginary world, the harmony with nature and the sensitive cohabitate together. I often think about Gauguin's trip to find another world, there is a bit of that. I love ethnic groups in harmony with nature such as Mentawai men-flowers.

In your opinion, what is the impact of digital art/photography in current art? What do you think is its future?

Digital art is a revolution. It is still in its infancy. Of course it will not replace painting or photography, it is a new medium, new possibilities for expression. I think that the technique will become more and more simplified, less stressful. Eventually it will concern, almost, only the idea.

How do you balance digital vs. traditional art when creating your artworks?

There are the same rules of composition, light and harmony, so the traditional art I used to do is useful for my new works.

Why do you prefer to work mostly in monochrome instead of in color?

Images focus more on shapes, composition, lights and shadows. The atmosphere that emerges fits me more. It is a creative expression that shows a message without effect, a vision that is not that of reality, but a detachment.

What do you expect for coming years in your artistic career? 

I am lucky to live from my work today, I sell and exhibit all over the world and I have important projects waiting. In coming years I expect to become even more visible and to find new possibilities to advance with my work. :)

Patrick Gonzales | Website

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